Click on the category to learn more about the era of the Great Gatsby.....
Plot: This novel is not just about drinking, dancing, romancing and getting rich but the death of the American Dream during the hedonistic twenties.
Click
here for Character's list and descriptions
Geography:
“How do you get to West Egg village?” he asked helplessly.
Theme:
*Noble goals such as integrity, honesty, individualism, and determination replaced by obsession with wealth, pleasure, youth, and beauty.
* Clash of social standing and value systems between “old money” and “new money” symbolized by the geography of East and West Egg.
Symbolism:
The Green Light –From his West Egg lawn, Gatsby gazes upon a green
light cast from a lamp at the end of Daisy's East Egg dock. The green
light is initially representative of Gatsby's hope that Daisy will be
one day be his. Since Daisy symbolizes that which only superficially appears
perfect, the green light, cast from Daisy’s world, becomes a symbol
for the decay of the idealism once associated with the American dream.
Other Works:
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Bio:
Name: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Born: St.Paul,Minnesota on September 24, 1896
*Enrolled at Princeton University in 1913
*Enlisted in Army without finishing college in 1917
*
He
met Zelda Sayre while staioned in Alabama, they were married in 1920
*
Zelda
Sayre was the true love of F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was a ballet dancer,
painter, and writer. She was the inspiration for many of Scott’s
female characters.
Some of her works shown below:
One of Zelda's pieces of artwork entilted "Fifth Ave" below...
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*March 1920: first novel
This Side of Paradise, published.
*1924: Zelda and Scott move to France.
*1925: The Great Gatsby is published.
*December 21, 1940: Fitzgerald dies of alcohol-related illnesses.
To learn more visit these sites:
www.wshs.fcps.k12.va.us/academic/english/1project/99gg/topics.htm
US
History Project on the 1920s—Asks students to put together a cultural
History of the decade
History Teacher.Net—DBQ of the 1920s.
Free
site to help educators analyze and annotate web resources.helps to
organize web based lessons
Tools for evaluation of websites: Discovery education
Cyberbee--Karen
McLachlan, High librarian on web evaluation: